The Euro Area’s annual inflation rate was revised up to 2.6% in March 2026, the highest reading since July 2024. This compares with a preliminary estimate of 2.5% and marks an acceleration from 1.9% in February. The rise was largely driven by energy prices, which increased 5.1% year-on-year — the first annual gain in nearly a year and the strongest since February 2023 — exceeding the initial estimate of 4.9%, as the conflict with Iran sharply pushed up oil prices.
In contrast, inflation slowed across several other categories: services (3.2% vs 3.4% in February), non-energy industrial goods (0.5% vs 0.7%) and food, alcohol and tobacco (2.4% vs 2.5%). Annual core inflation, which excludes energy and unprocessed food, edged down to 2.3% from 2.4%, in line with the preliminary estimate.
On a monthly basis, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.3%, the largest increase since October 2022. Among the bloc’s largest economies, inflation picked up in Germany (2.8% vs 2.0%), France (2.0% vs 1.1%), Italy (1.6% vs 1.5%), Spain (3.4% vs 2.5%) and the Netherlands (2.6% vs 2.3%).
